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Original Air Date: April 10, 2008
The Con
Bad, Michael Scott! Bad, Michael Scott!
The bossman fakes an order from corporate for the Scranton branch to work late one Friday night, all so he can corner JIM and PAM and force them to come to his house for a three-couple dinner party. They’ve already gotten out of such an invitation about nine times, but they aren’t so lucky now, to Jim’s great, great consternation. Poor DWIGHT also gets the blues when he learns one of the invited couples is ANDY and ANGELA, and, worse, he can’t attend because MICHAEL claims to only have six wine glasses.
Into the Wilderness
Jim and Pam give the gathering their best shot, though, and Pam even brings along a bottle of wine for the hosts. Michael and JAN — calling each other “babe” and “honey” ad nauseam — initially attempt to be charming hosts. But they’re not charming enough for Pam and Jim, who throw wide-eyed WTF looks at each other throughout the tour M&J give. The biggest shocker awaits in the master bedroom, where the guests see Michael forgot to hide the video camera on the tripod at the foot of the bed. We don’t have to think too hard about what they do with that.
Thankfully, Andy and Angela arrive soon, but Pam’s joy is immediately destroyed upon Jan’s revelation that the ossobuco she’s preparing takes three hours to cook. When Pam asks if she means three hours from that moment or three hours from hours ago, Jan responds that people in Spain don’t eat dinner until midnight sometimes. If she says so…
He Said, She Said
The night only gets better when Jan puts on a CD made by her former assistant Hunter that sounds like an ode to that one night they got it on. This is followed by a session of charades that features Jan repeatedly telling Michael how not to play, Jan revealing that Michael ran through the glass sliding doors because he thought he heard the ice cream truck, Jan and Angela both accusing Pam of having the hots for Michael (Jan actually thinks she used to date him),…
…Michael not-so-subtly hinting to Jim and Andy that they can invest in Jan’s scented candle business for $10,000 each, Jan and Michael arguing about her not wanting kids and him having a vasectomy reversed three times because she kept changing her story, all topped off by Dwight arriving with his own wine glasses and ancient former babysitter, which leads to the revelation that Jan ordered Michael not to invite him. Angela’s not so thrilled to see Dwight, either.
Name Your Poison
As Jim noted before he unsuccessfully tried to get out by faking an emergency flood in his apartment, Jan and Michael seem to be competing to see who can make their guests the most uncomfortable — and they are both winning. Nowhere is this clearer than when the food is finally ready.
At the table, Michael leans over to Pam and tells her he suspects Jan might have poisoned it. Pam hopes that’s not true; but ever wise, she realizes that if it is, she’s the most likely candidate for a mega dose since Jan thinks she’s Michael’s former lover.
It doesn’t have to come to killing the guests, though, because M&J self-destruct on their own when Jan orders Michael to stop doing something while he’s eating — I’m not even sure what — and Michael retaliates by hanging a neon St. Pauli beer sign on the wall near the table. As the stunned diners watch in complete disbelief, Jan ultimately ends up throwing one of Michael’s Dundie awards into his prized, teeny tiny, $200 plasma TV on the wall before running upstairs.
Free at Last
That’s the cue to leave, and as everyone heads out the door to go get burgers and ice cream or whatever, the cops arrive to investigate a call claiming there was screaming at the house. Michael declines to press charges against Jan for damaging his TV, and when the cops suggest he stay somewhere else that night, the only guest/employee who’ll have him is the one he doesn’t want — Dwight, of course. At least Jim scores that Hunter CD for his “babe” Jan, making the night not a complete bust after all.
RESOURCES
This episode was definitely a standout for the series.
I always get a kick out of remembering how so many people hated The Office when it debuted; most just seemed like they couldn’t get past the original British version (a comedy classic, of course).
Now the show is almost roundly praised as one of the best series on TV. It’s definitely proof of why networks should stop canceling series so quickly and give them a little room to grow first.
One of the BEST episodes ever! Loved it. It was so unexpected to see Jan and Michael at home, and I love what they’re doing with the other couples of the show.
Sitcom writers should definitely look The Office for how to have two main characters become romantically involved without losing the tension in the show. It was so funny how Jim ends up taking the CD and then him and Pam play it in the car as they go through the drive thru.
Can’t wait to see what the writers come up with.